Paper fibre processing machine and method of working pulp fibres



July 3, 1962 A. J. HAU-G PAPER FIBRE PROCESSING MACHINE AND METHOD OFWORKING PULP FIBRES Filed Oct. 1, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet l lll ATTORNEYJuly 3, 1962 A. J. HAUG 3,042,321

PAPER FIBRE PROCESSING MACHINE AND METHOD OF WORKING PULP FIBRES FiledOct. 1, 1958 i 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MJZ ATTORNEY July 3, 1962 AU3,042,321 PAPER FIBRE PROCESSING MACHINE AND METHOD OF WORKING PULPFIBRES Filed Oct. 1, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 4 32 FIG. 3

INVENTOR MJ ATTORNEY United States Pate t 3,042,321 PAPER FIBREPROCESSING MACHINE AND METHOD OF WORKING PULP FIBRES Anton Joseph Haug,64 Taylor St., Nashua, N .H. Filed Oct. 1, 1958, Ser. No. 764,676 2Claims. (Cl. 241157) This invention relates to method and apparatus forworking fibrous materials and in particular fibrous mixtures of theclass commonly employed in the pulp and paper making art.

In processing pulp fibers it is customary to subject the fibers to morethan one type of working in order to obtain varying degrees ofdefibering and separation of fiber bundles. One common procedure is toprocess relatively coarse material such as wood chips, flakes and thelike in one machine and thereafter to carry out a secondary treatment inanother pulp refining apparatus in order to obtain a more completeunrolling and separation of constituent fibers of fiber bundles. Asillustrative of one desirable form for working relative coarse fibrousmaterial there may be cited machines of the class described in US.Patents No. 2,674,162 and No. 2,719,463 issued to me in 1954 and 1955.These machines have been found to be highly successful in carrying outvarious types of fiber working operations and are commonly referred toin the art as Koller Mill machines."

It is a chief object of the present invention to improve methods ofworking fibrous materials and especially to devise a method of carryingout a unique brushing and curling action with respect to fiber bundles.Another object is to devise a machine for more completely defiberingfiber bundles and flakes at a point at which the fiber bundles andflakes have already undergone treatment by crushing rolls and are in apartly separated state so that brushing and curling efiects are causedto take effect immediately after crushing and rolling forces have beenexerted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a special fiber brushingmechanism which may be incorporated in a novel fashion as an integralpart of the machines described in US. Patents No. 2,674,162 and No.2,719,463 in order to eliminate the need for using secondary machines tocomplete a required defibering operation.

These and other objects and novel features will be more fully understoodand appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentof the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of a machine generallycorresponding to the machines disclosed in Patents No. 2,674,162 and No.2,719,463 and further including the fiber brushing mechanism of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is another cross sectional view taken transversely of the machineshown in FIG. 1 at points closely adjacent to the fiber brushingmechanism shown therein.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of portions ofthe machine shown in FIG. 1 and par-.

ticularly indicating in greater detail brushing shoe and brushing ringcomponents of the fiber brushing mechanism of the invention. a

FIG. 4 is a detail elevational view of a fiber brushing shoe elementshown removed from the machine; and

FIG. 5 is another detail elevational view of the brushing shoe elementshown in FIG. 4 but illustrating an outer serrated surface portion ofthe brushing shoe element.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG.1, the structure shown therein represents a machine of a form generallycorresponding to the structure shown in US. Patents No. 2,674,162 andNo. 2,719,- 463 which machines are closely referred to in the art asKoller Mill machines. In this Koller Mill form of ma- M chine arevolving cylinder is employed to move a fluid mass of fibrous materialin a thin circular stream which is subjected to a continuous rollingpressure while advancing periodically in an axially directed manner asfurther disclosed in the patents noted.

As shown in FIG. 1, numeral 2 denotes a cylinder which is rotated bysuitable drive means as pulley members 4 and 6 which are adapted toreceive belts. Stock is advanced into the cylinder by means of aconveyor screw 8 extending inwardly from the right hand side of themachine as viewed in FIG. 1 and this stock is subjected to repeatedcrushing and rolling action of a large roll 16 on which the cylinder issupported for rotative movement. The roll It} is driven by suitablepulley means as 12. Another independently driven screw 14 cooperateswith the roll 10 to periodically deflect and advance stock along thecylinder from which it passes to a discharge outlet 15. Further detailsof the construction and operation of the machine shown in FIG. 1 may behad from an inspection of the disclosure appearing in the two patentsnoted above. In accordance with the present invention I combine myimproved fiber brushing mechanism with the discharge end of the cylinder2. As shown in FIG. 1, the cylinder 2 is mounted on upright sections 16and 18 with the right hand end of the cylinder 2 as shown in FIG. 1being contained in an enclosure part 20. The fiber brushing mechanism ismounted at the other end of the clylinder 2 and generally includes astationary part 21 with a revolving ring 22. The ring 22 is fixed to thecylinder 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 34 and rotates with the cylinder whenthe latter member is driven by the pulley members 4 and 6. The revolvingring 22 preferably flares outwardly in a substantially frusto-conicalshape as indicated and the inner surface of this ring member is providedwith a roughened or serrated surface 22a, best shown in FIG. 2. In apreferred form of the invention the serrations of the surface 22a arearranged so that they incline rearwardly on the ring 22 with respect toits axis of rotation to provide fiber engaging surfaces which aredesigned to exert a unique fiber holding and brushing action.

The stationary part of the fiber brushing mechanism comprises the fiberengaging shoe element 21 above noted, consisting of a curved armpivotally mounted on a shaft 24, as best shown in FIG. 3. The shaft 24is received in a hub portion 26 and includes a tension spring 28 securedat one end and having its opposite end anchored to a central bearingportion of the arm 21. By suitably adjusting the spring 28, the shoeelement 21 may be caused to resiliently lie in slightly spaced relationto the serrated surface 22a of the ring 22. The outer surface of theshoe element 21 is also formed with serrations as 30 and 32 which may bearranged to lie parallel to the axis of pivoting of the shoe on theshaft 24, or may extend forwardly in a direction opposite to that of theinclination of the serrations in ring 22.

As will be observed from an inspection of FIG. 2, the curvature of thefiber brushing shoe element 21 is chosen so as to form a graduallydecreasing space between its serrated surfaces 30 and 32 and adjacentserrations 22a of ring 22. By means of the spring mounting described, itwill be apparent that the shoe element 21 in response to pressure isadapted to pivot inwardly and yield to a mass of pulp passing betweenitself and the ring 22, thus constantly exerting a controlled pressure.It is pointed out as fibrous material enters the relatively widest spacebetween the shoe element 21 and the ring 22, indicated by the arrow S inFIG. 2, the constituent fiber bundles are immediately engaged andsubjected to a reverse rolling effect which operates to pull the fiberbundles apart and brush out individual fibers in a manner whichaccomplishes a very desirable separation of the material.

The decreasing space between the shoe element and the serrated surfaceof the ring operates to progressively brush out fiber elements in a veryminute and thorough degree which is comparable to defibered and brushedeffects heretofore carried out with secondary machine treatments.

It will be obvious that the precise degree of defibering which may bedesired for any particular stock can be controlled Within predeterminedlimits by varying the clearance between the shoe element and the ring22. Similarly, for some types of stock, it may be desired to increase ordecrease the spring tension by varying the setting of the spring member28, or by employing various other torsion springs, levers, weights andfluid pressure devices. The combination roll squeezing and brushing shoetreatment of the invention is not designed for use with low consistencypulps and does not work satisfactorily with low consistency pulps thatare commonly worked in disc mills where consistencies run from 4% to 8%.When stock of a consistency of 4%, for example, is fed into the machineof the invention, the stock is not worked at all, but rather is squeezedback in front of the roll and leaves the machine untreated because ithas not substance enough for the rolls to engage over. Therefore,preferred consistencies of material for which the present machine of theinvention is designed include consistencies of from 10% to 30% andhigher.

In the drawings the fiber brushing shoe element has been shown with aspring and a stop 25 which constitutes one means of adjusting thespacing. Various other arrangements may, of course, be employed for thispurpose. Similarly, I may desire to employ a plurality of the fiberbrushing shoe elements as has been suggested, for example, in brokenlines as denoted by the numeral 21'. In this case the fiber brushingshoe element is arranged at diametrical opposite points with respect tothe fiber brushing ring member. Still other changes may be resorted tocomprising deflecting plates for guiding material into the passagewaybetween the shoe element and the ring at some particular point. Variousother changes may also be carried out. For example, I may provide meansfor driving the brush ring 22 independently of the cylinder so thatdifferent speeds may be realized. In this connection, I may also desireto combine the brush mechanism of the invention with other forms offiber Working machines or fiber containers.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have disclosed adesirable form of fiber brushing mechanism which is adapted to eliminateand unroll fibers thereby to accomplish a very complete defiberingaction. By combining the mechanism described with a machine of the classdisclosed in the patents noted, a complete defibering process may beaccomplished in a single machine without the need for subjecting stockto a secondary working.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the machine generally,it should be understood that modification may be resorted to within thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for mechanically working fibrous paper making materialthe combination of a frame, a revolving cylinder mounted in the framefor receiving and guiding fibrous material in a circular path of travelaround the inside of the cylinder, means for feeding material into thecylinder, an outlet housing fixed to the machine frame and locatedaround an open end of the revolving cylinder to provide a passagewaythrough which material may pass out of the open end of the cylinder, aroller located through the cylinder for engaging and rolling fibrousmaterial, rotating conveyor means supported in the circular path oftravel of the fibrous material and periodically deflecting portions ofthe fibrous material in directions axially of the cylinder, acylindrical fiber brushing component rotatable with the revolvingcylinder within the said outlet housing, said fiber brushing componentconsisting of a conical extension presenting inner fiber engagingsurfaces which terminate in spaced relation to the end wall of saidoutlet housing and an inner fiber brushing component yieldably supportedon the outlet housing in spaced relation to the outer fiber brushingcomponent to define a restricted fiber brushing passageway of annularconformation and said inner fiber brushing component including a pair ofpivoted members each of which is variably spaced from an adjacentserrated surface of the outer fiber brushing component and each of saidpivoted members being formed with serrated portions for engaging androlling fibers passing through the restricted fiber brushing passageway.

2. In a machine for mechanically working fibrous paper making materialthe combination of a frame, a revolving cylinder mounted in the framefor receiving and guiding fibrous material in a circular path of travelaround the inside of the cylinder, means for feeding material into thecylinder, an outlet housing fixed to the machine frame and locatedaround an open end of the revolving cylinder to provide a passagewaythrough which material may pass out of the open end of the cylinder, aroller located through the cylinder for engaging and rolling fibrousmaterial, rotating conveyor means supported in the circular path oftravel of the fibrous material and periodically deflecting portions ofthe fibrous material in directions axially of the cylinder, acylindrical fiber brushing component rotatable with the revolvingcylinder Within the said outlet housing, said fiber brushing componentconsisting of a conical extension presenting inner fiber engagingsurfaces which terminate in spaced relation to the end wall of saidoutlet housing and an inner fiber brushing component yieldably supportedon the outlet housing in spaced relation to the outer fiber brushingcomponent to define a restricted fiber brushing passageway of annularconformation and said inner fiber brushing component including a pair ofpivoted arms presenting serrated surfaces and a pair of stop memberslocated adjacent extremities of respective pivoted arms for limiting thearc of turning of these arms, said arms being formed with serratedportions for engaging and rolling fibers passing through the restrictedfiber brushing passageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,750,088 Bragard Mar. 11, 1930 2,035,994 Sutherland Mar. 31, 19362,087,559 Tolman July 120, 1937 2,674,162 Haug Apr. 6, 1954 2,719,463Haug Oct. 4, 1955 2,734,685 Saito Feb. 14, 1956

